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Bay Area Peeps - Touring suggestions?

sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
Hey Monkeys,

My husband has a business trip to Alameda, and Jane and I are tagging along. We'll be there Wed - Sat (Jun 23-26). We'll be staying on the Alameda side.

It would be great to beg, borrow, or rent a small mountain bike bike that I could put the Ibert on, so Jane and I could run around town while my husband's at work. Anyone have any suggestions on bike rentals?

Also, if you have off-the-beaten-path touring suggestions that are kid-friendly, that would be great! Thanks for any advice.

-Sunny (Laura)
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
I recommend finding a really nice couple of people with a full stock of rental equipment that will do curbside pickup and dropoff and take you for a ride and a lesson... all for the price of a Hodad's burger.

It's worked for me before ;)
 

sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
I recommend finding a really nice couple of people with a full stock of rental equipment that will do curbside pickup and dropoff and take you for a ride and a lesson... all for the price of a Hodad's burger.

It's worked for me before ;)
Nice!!! Where does one find such people??
;)
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,196
4,420
I'm not an expert on Alameda, but I know the east bay, so I'll add my 2 cents and hope it helps.

Alameda is a little bit tough for recommendations because it's an island serviced primarily by highways. It's largely suburban and half of the island is dominated by an old Naval base. Some hangars have been taken over by companies (Hangar 1 vodka for example) but it could be a good place to explore.

Here are the bike routes around Alameda:
http://www.bikealameda.org/info/map/big_bikemap.pdf

You might also find some interesting information on the site:
http://www.bikealameda.org/

My suggestions are to:

1. Check out the old naval base and around alameda in general. Shoreline drive is a huge beachfront that faces the bay and is popular with Kite and wind surfers.

2. Take a ride off the island and check out Lake Merrit in Oakland. It's a big lake right in the middle of the city with paths the whole way around. It's popular with bikers and joggers. (go via the posey/webster tube/tunnel)

3. If can swing it, a fun thing to do is to ride the bay trail to the Berkeley Marina. It's fun to explore and ride by the water, check out the kites an so on:
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A couple of bike shops:
http://alamedabicycle.com/
http://www.cyclecityusa.com

Hope that helps.
 
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sunny

Grammar Civil Patrol
Jul 2, 2004
1,107
0
Sandy Eggo, CA
Thanks for the suggestions. :)

The business trip is at the Naval Complex, thus Alameda. It's great having suggestions for things we can do if we have to hang around waiting for Steve to get out of a meeting or something.

We will be going into San Francisco for our adventures; sorry I wasn't clear with that. I figured no on would seriously think I was coming up to tour Oakland with so much to see in San Francisco across the bay.

On one or two of the days, we'll have no car, so we'll be BART-ing it.
 

rockofullr

confused
Jun 11, 2009
7,342
924
East Bay, Cali
Look into biking and hiking in Presidio Park.

It has trails running along the bay and the ocean side of SF. The trails connect all kinds of historical sites and even a marine sanctuary. I can't remember if biking is ok on the dirt trails but even if it isn't riding on the paved roads would provide a day's worth of exploration no problem.

Another cool option is to take the boat ride over to angle island. The road that rings the park is a fun ride with lots of history and beautiful views.